Mark Andrew Allen

Pool Time

Fun, vibrant mixed media piece. Woman diving into the pool. Holiday Inn theme. On wood. About the Artist: Allen's work has gained recognition wor...

Fun, vibrant mixed media piece. Homage to the late, great Audrey Hepburn. Also featuring Chanel, Tiffany's, Paris and The U.S. Themes of Hepburn's iconic films. On wood. About the Artist: Allen's work has gained recognition world-wide for it's complex layering of mixed media works that create a narrative of modern American culture. His work today is a culmination of many years of painting, thinking and experiencing. He blends urban street art with his background of typography, mixed media collage, and abstract expressionism into each of his urban pop expressionist works. The son of fine artist / commercial artist Harrison Allen, Mark learned a lot very early from his talented father. His think training also includes a bachelor degree in commercial art from Texas State University in San Marcos, TX. He continued study at Parson's School of Design in New York City where he had an apartment across the street from Andy Warhol's factory (they met in 1982.) He continued study later at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. Allen is represented in galleries throughout the world. Museums he has shown in include The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Museum - Cleveland, OH; Experience Music Project - Seattle, WA; Memphis Brooks Museum of Art; Dallas Museum of Art, and Acadian Museum - Lafayette, LA. He was a major figure in the graphic design community for over two decades. Much of his celebrated work is from the entertainment industry doing graphic design work for high profile clients including the 'Yu-Gi-Oh' logo, 'The Wizard of Oz' 60th Anniversary logo, redesigned Coca-Cola bottles, designed 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' logo for Disney and art directed for recording artist Sean 'P Diddy' Combs record label, Bad Boy Records. Promotion work for Pepsi, Diet Coke, Miller Beer...

This piece depicts a colorful collage composition portrait of a Pin-up model from the 1950s, as Jon Davenport explores the process of deconstructing iconic imagery from the past and present. Davenport start’s out with photos of his paint-stained studio floor and collages in articles/advertising from an array of vintage magazines collected over the years; plus any other interesting stuff captured on his travels. He then transfers the images to a panel board, layering them on with gel medium, together with strokes, splashes, drips, and splats of paint. Once it's dry, another layer of gel medium is poured on to give it a melting effect. After it drys off again, another layer of paint is added to embellish a few areas and to accentuate or fade out certain aspects. And then, he finally adds a coat of polyurethane for protection and making the colors pop. This unique work is executed on a wood panel board and comes ready to be displayed with hanging wire on verso, signed by the artist lower right. Art measures 36 x 36 in From biology student to owning and running a creative agency in London to a career as a fine artist, life has taken Jon Davenport on a rewarding and unconventional journey. Despite his scientific beginnings, he’s always had a strong artistic streak weaving its way through his different career paths. Growing up in Ipswich, UK, Jon was always an avid drawer, and could often be found with a pencil and paper in hand. With the arrival of his first computer, he embraced the new frontier of digital art and had work published in one of those early computer magazines. His creative urges took a backseat to get a biology degree at Brunel University in London. It was afterward, in his first job working at the Archant newspaper group in Ipswich, that he quickly progressed from plate maker to becoming an integral member of the art studio. It was during this time that he taught himself photoshop, desktop publishing, and graphic & web design. After a few years, he set up a design agency, and eventually went full time and moved to London. This proved to be a successful move, working for a number of clients such as Nike and Virgin, and gaining praise from the likes of Richard Branson and Tony Blair. It wasn’t until Jon moved to the USA to marry his wife, Atlanta artist Christy Kinard...